Charges filed: Second student assaulted at high school

Publisher

For the second time in as many weeks, a ninth grade student is facing felony criminal charges after participating in a beating at the high school.

On Tuesday, Aug. 30, a 15-year-old ninth grader was beaten and hospitalized after being attacked by a 16-year-old inside a classroom in Franklin County High School's Ninth Grade Academy.

According to Darryl DeForeest, stepfather of the victim, his stepson was "stomped and hit several times in the head." The youth was released from the hospital this past Saturday after being treated for a "blood clot on his brain" and is now recuperating.

The 16-year-old, also a ninth grader, accused of the beating was arrested and sent to the Youth Detention Center in Gainesville where he is awaiting a bond hearing. He is currently being charged with felony aggravated battery, reported Franklin County Sheriff Steve Thomas.

On Aug. 24 another 15-year-old male ninth grader was charged with felony aggravated battery after allegedly beating a 14-year-old female classmate. According the victim's mother, Nan Vickery, her daughter has recovered from reconstructive nose surgery and is scheduled to have a tooth repaired later this week.

According to FCHS principal Diane Toney, these were "two isolated incidents between two people and two people," she said. "Things are very calm and it's business as usual. We are encouraging close supervision - which we always do."

The parents, on the other hand, are very disturbed at the way the situations were handled.

"Neither me nor my wife (Reagen) were contacted (about their son's beating), he was never checked out and he was sent home on the bus," DeForeest said. "The doctor said we were fortunate to have gotten him to the hospital when we did."

"A teacher witnessed my daughter being attacked and assumed it was horseplay, " Vickery said of the incident involving her 14-year-old. "And the principal didn't want to contact law enforcement, saying she wanted to 'do an investigation' first. Nobody has the right to hit someone else, let alone a boy hitting a girl."

Vickery added that there was more than one boy involved in the attack on her daughter.

DeForeest said his stepson will be out of school for at least three weeks recuperating and that he hopes to relocate his family during this time instead of having him return to FCHS.

Vickery said her daughter reluctantly returned to school this past Tuesday and she is considering relocating her to Hart County High School.